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It  is  due  on  the 


LANDSCAPE  GARDEN 


I.  Introduction,  History  and  Design 


^S^GAR^DEN  PRESS 

D avenjDor t ,  ~-^  Io\<?eL 


Fig.  1 — An  Italian  garden  in  which  an  architectural  use  has 
been  made  of  plant  material  without  giving  an  expres- 
sion of  an  over-formal  garden  composition 


LANDSCAPE  GARDEN  SERIES 


HISTORY  AND  DESIGN 


BY 
RALPH  RODNEY  ROOT,  B.  S.  A.,  M.  L.  A. 


THE   GARDEN  PRESS 

DAVENPORT,  IOWA 


PREFACE  TO  THE  LANDSCAPE  GARDEN   SERIES 

"I  never  had  any  other  desire  so  strong  and  so  Hke  to 
covetousness,  as  that  one  which  I  have  had  always,  that  I 
might  be  master  at  last  of  a  small  house  and  a  large 
garden."  - — Abraham  Cowley,    1618-1667. 

GARDENING  is  one  of  the  most  inexpensive  and  entertaining 
pastimes  the  year  round.  The  gardening  year  is  divided  into 
four  regular  seasons:  winter,  or  planning  time;  spring,  or  plant- 
ing time;  summer,  or  enjoyment  time;  autumn,  or  the  season  for  the 
harvest  of  vegetables  and  fruits.  A  study  of  the  average  home  grounds 
in  America  seems  to  show  that  few  people  have  grasped  the  principles 
of  garden  design  or  have  given  to  this  phase  of  home  making  the  atten- 
tion that  it  deserves. 

The  object  of  the  Landscape  Garden  Series  is  to  sei-ve  as  a  guide 
to  garden  care  and  planning.  It  is  not  the  object  of  the  authors  to 
cover  each  subject,  of  this  series,  in  an  exhaustive  manner,  but  rather 
to  include  in  these  books  such  information  as  will  be  found  helpful  in 
planning  and  caring  for  private  places. 

It  has  been  the  endeavor  of  the  writers  of  this  series  to  avoid  senti- 
mental effusions  upon  incidental  details  of  gardening.  Such  articles 
and  books  upon  the  subject  of^  gardening  have  done  untold  good  in 
arousing  interest  in  this  fascinating  pastime,  but  it  has  seemed  to  the 
authors  of  this  series  that  their  inspirational  literature  is  not  supple- 
mented frequently  enough  by  clear  exposition  of  the  fundamental 
theories  of  good  planning,  and  by  practical  information  as  to  how  these 
ideas  may  be  carried  out. 

The  material  in  these  booklets  has  been  arranged  so  that  each 
phase  of  landscape  work  can  be  studied  conveniently  and  the  separate 
books  used  as  a  part  of  the  garden  equipment.     There  is  necessarily 

75508 


6  LANDSCAPE  GARDEN  SERIES 

some  duplication  in  the  various  papers  of  the  series.  It  was  thought 
best,  in  many  cases,  to  permit  this  dupHcation,  especially  when  such 
repetition  assists  in  driving  home  certain  fundamental  principles. 

If  through  these  books  a  desire  can  be  created  for  better  designed 
home  grounds,  and  if  these  books  will  assist  the  home  owner  in  mak- 
ing this  desire  a  reality,  the  authors  will  feel  well  repaid  for  the  thought 
and  care  which  has  been  required  in  the  arrangement  of  the  material. 


OUTLINE 
LANDSCAPE  GARDEN  SERIES 


BOOK  I.  HISTORY  AND  DESIGN 

Chapter — 
I.    History 
II.    Design 

BOOK  II.     PLANNING  THE  HOME  GROUNDS 

Chapter — 

I.  Introduction. 

II.  Developing   the   Landscape   Plan 

III.  Locating  the  House 

IV.  Walks  and  Drives 

V.  The  Division  of  Areas 

VI.  The  Public  Area 
VII.    The  Private  Area 

VIII.    The  Service  Area 

IX.    Insuring  Tasteful  Expression 

BOOK  III.     PLANTING  THE  HOME  GROUNDS 
Chapter — 

I.    The  Function  of  Planting  Material  in  Landscape  Design 

II.  Types  of  Planting 

III.  Classification  of  Plant  Materials 

IV.  Plant  Composition 

V.    Sources  of  Plant  Material 

VI.  Planting  Design  for  Home  Grounds 

VII.  Sincerity  in  Planting 


8  LANDSCAPE  GARDEN  SERIES 

BOOK  IV.     PLANTS  FOR  THE  HOME  GROUNDS 
List— 

I.  Evergreens  for  Formal  Planting 

II.  Deciduous  Plants  for  Formal  Planting 

III.  Evergeens  for  Informal  Planting 

IV.  Deciduous  Plants  Suitable  for  Informal  Planting 

V.  Woody  Plants  Enduring  Shade 

VI.  Plants  for  Ground  Cover  Under  Trees 

VII.  Trees  for  Street  and  Avenues 

VIII.  Trees  not  to  be  Used  for  Street  Trees  or  Near  Home 

IX.  Plants  for  Congested  City  Districts 

X.  Low  and  Trailing  Plants  for  Covering  Slopes  and 

Preventing  Erosion 

XI.  Plants  for  Unprotected  Places  Along  Lake  or  River  Fronts 

XII.  Plants  Adapted  for  Various  Soil  Conditions 

XIII.  Plants  for  Rock  Gardens 

XIV.  Plants  for  Water  Gardens 

XV.  Plants  with  Special  Interest  in  Twig,  Leaf  and  Fruit 

VII.  Shrubs  Valuable  for  Flowers  in  Order  of  Bloom 

XVII.  Vines  for  Special  Purposes 

XVIII.  Perennials 

XIX  Bulbs 

XX.  The  Best  Annuals  for  General  Use 

BOOK  V.     PLANTING  AND  MAINTENANCE 
Chapter — 

I.    Listing,  Selecting  and  Ordering 

II.  Soil  Preparation 

III.  Planting 

IV.  General  Maintenance 
V.   Pruning 

VI.  Insect  Enemies  and  Fungous  Diseases 


OUTLINE  9 

BOOK  VI.     CONSTRUCTION— ARCHITECTURAL 
FEATURES 

Chapter — 

I.    Grading,  Drainage  and  Lawns 
II.   Walks  and  Driveways 

III.  Walls,  Fences  and  Gateways 

IV.  Garden  Structures 
V.    Pools 

VI.    Furnishings  and  Garden  Features. 

BOOK  VII.     GARDEN  DESIGN 

Chapter — 

I.    Introduction 
II.    Design 

III.  Types  of  Gardens 

IV.  Use  of  Gardens 

V.   Garden  Color  and  Material 

BOOK  VIII.     BEAUTY  IN  THE  VEGETABLE  GARDEN 

Chapter — 

I.   At  the  Gate 
II.   The  One  Best  Place 

III.  The  Design  Attractive 

IV.  Border  Pathways 

V.  The  Magic  of  Architecture 

BOOK  IX.     COUNTRY  PLACES 

BOOK  X.     THE  HOME  AND  THE  CUT 
Chapter — 

I.    The  Home  and  the  City 
II.    Organizmg  for  City  Improvements 
III.    Appendix 


Copyright,   iqsr 
•V  L.   n:  RAMSEV 


CONTENTS 

I.     History   10 

II.     Design 26 


CHAPTER  I 


\/-^ 


HISTORY 

THE  enjoyment  of  designing,  building,  and  caring  for  gardens, 
together  with  the  pleasure  of  studying  natural  landscape  has  been 
since  the  earliest  times  a  favorite  subject  for  authors  and  students, 
so  that  we  have  very  good  data  for  the  study  of  the  growth  of  land- 
scape gardening  from  the  earliest  times  up  to  the  present  date. 
Although  many  of  the  earlier  gardens  are  no  longer  existing,  and 
many  styles  of  landscape  gardening  have  lasted  only  for  comparatively 
short  time,  each  of  these  has  left  behind  it  something  worth  being 
copied,  so  that  many  of  the  gardens  we  see  at  the  present  time  com- 
bine features  that  were  used  in  the  earliest  gardens.  While  the  gar- 
dens of  the  different  countries  differed  a  great  deal  both  in  their 
arrangement  and  the  plant  material  used  and  in  the  use  of  the  gardens 
themselves,   we  find   in  many  cases  the  same   features,   such   as  water. 


Fig.  2 — Gateway.     An  American  Estate 

D.   H.  HILL  LIBRARY 

North  Carolina  State  College 


12 


LANDSCAPE  GARDEN  SERIES 


walls  and  walks,  being  used  in  such  a  way  as  to  take  advantage  of  the 
climatic  conditions  or  the  particular  use  required  of  each. 
Egyptian  Gardens 
In  the  earliest  gardens  of  which  we  have  a  record — those 
of  ancient  Egypt, — we  have  fairly  accurate  data  back  to  3000  B.  C. 
in  records  on  an  Eygptian  tomb, — on  that  of  Amten, — we  find  a  carved 
inscription  which  gives  us  an  excellent  idea  of  the  arrangement  and 
planting  of  these  early  gardens.  This  particular  garden  contained  an 
area  of  almost  1 30  thousand  square  feet,  in  which  was  located  a 
dwelling  house  and  the  necessary  service  building,  with  the  whole 
scheme  arranged  in  such  a  way  as  to  make  the  best  possible  use  of 
the  land.  Provision  was  made  for  shade  by  the  use  of  trees,  and  cool- 
ness by  the  use  of  pools  of  water. 

Many  of  the  ideas  of  early  Egyptian  gardens  were  taken  to  Persia 
where  the  garden  became  more  decorative,  and  we  find  here  water 
used  for  the  purpose  of  reflection,  the  trees  being  used  more  for  their 
flowers    and    odor. 

Roman  Gardens 
The  best  of  the   earlier  gardens  were   those   of   the   Romans,    in 
which  we  find  combined  the  best  ideas  of  the  Egyptians,  Persians  and 


'aBH''^''^^^  '^^i^'r*^^3Bm 

iJttJ 

j^^^^jU 

Fig.  3 — An  English  Estate 


HISTORY  1 3 

Greeks.  The  larger  of  the  Italian  gardens  were  located  on  the  hill- 
sides which  required  the  use  of  terraces,  and  the  garden  was  made 
very  decorative  by  the  use  of  steps  and  ramps  and  balustrades.'! 
Fountains  were  provided  on  the  terraces  starting  at  the  top  of  the  gar- 
den and  playing  down  the  terraces  until  the  lower  level  was  reached, 
where  the  water  was  caught  in  large  pools  where  it  was  used  for 
reflection. 

The  most  of  the  planting  in  these  gardens  was  for  the  purpose 
of  adding  to  the  architectural  features  of  the  whole  scheme.  The 
house  and  grounds  were  made  a  single  composition  in  arrangement, 
and  for  the  first  time  we  have  the  whole  landscape  brought  in  as  part 
of  the  composition  by  the  framing  in  of  attractive  views  which  could 
be  seen  from  the  garden.  A  special  provision  of  the  arrangement  of 
these  gardens  was  the  use  of  axis  lines  in  such  a  way  as  to  give  balance 
and  formality  so  as  to  give  the  gardens  greater  decorativeness  and 
beauty.  With  the  fall  of  Rome  the  gardens  in  Italy  began  to  decline, 
but  there  still  were  many  of  the  beautiful  gardens  of  the  villas.  Among 
the  most  attractive  of  the  gardens  are  those  of  the  Villas  d'Este 
Aldobrandini,   Lante  and  Medici. 

English  Gardens 
A  country  in  which  the  idea  of  gardening  has  been  developed  to 
a  very  high  degree  is  that  of  England.  We  have  several  different 
styles  of  gardening,  the  most  important  among  the  early  ones  being 
the  Tudor  Gardens,  where  we  have  the  garden  developed  as  a  thing 
by  itself,  and  in  many  ways  similar  to  the  Egyptian  gardens.  An 
arrangement  of  walls  and  gates  protected  these  early  castle  gardens 
which  contained  the  vegetables,  flowers  and  herbs  for  the  family  who 
lived  in  the  castle  adjacent. 

The  Elizabethan  gardens  which  followed  closely  upon  that  of 
Tudor,  were  located  in  such  a  way  as  to  have  more  architectural  rela- 
tion to  the  house.  These  gardens  became  more  decorative  and  were 
very  similar  to  our  present  day  flower  gardens,  having  quite  a  little 
formality  of  arrangement  and  a  use  of  plant  material  to  secure  rather 
broad    effects. 

The  real  Elizabethan  gardens  begin  with  the  1 6th  century  and 
continue  through  until  the  middle  of  the  1  8th,  thus  making  the  date  of 


14 


LANDSCAPE  GARDEN  SERIES 


Fig.  4— Villa  D'Este,  Italy 


HISTORY  15 

Elizabethan  gardening  from  1550  to  1750,  covering  a  period  of  about 
200  years  in  garden  planning.  We  have  traced  the  development  of 
the  English  garden  from  the  castle  garden,  the  outgrowth  of  which 
was  the  Tudor  garden,  and  now  we  have  come  to  a  period  of  garden- 
ing in  England  which  we  will  find  to  be  very  distinctive. 

Up  to  this  time  the  general  care  of  the  garden,  such  as  it  was, 
had  not  occupied  very  much  of  the  owner's  thoughts,  but  with  the  in- 
troduction of  many  new  species  and  varieties  of  plants  from  other 
countries,  particularly  Holland  and  America,  we  find  a  new  type  of 
gardening,  with  the  interest  centered  largely  in  the  plants,  taking  a  new 
lease  on  life,  and  the  owners  devoting  much  of  their  time  to  their  gar- 
dens. (TAgain  an  analogy  may  be  dravvn  between  gardening  and 
history,  or  more  properly  speaking,  between  the  history  of  a  country 
and  its  gardening  proclivities.  The  time  of  the  reign  of  Elizabeth 
and  the  succeeding  kings  found  England  in  a  comparatively  wealthy 
state,  particularly  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  for  one  of  her  chief  policies 
was  frugality,  and  her  reign  was  marked  by  increased  resources; 
therefore,  during  this  prosperity  and  freedonn,  from  wars,  the  people 
were  given  the  opportunity  as  well  as  the  means  to  improve  their  gar- 
dens, and  to  turn  their  attention  to  the  more  peaceful  pursuits. Jl  It  was 
cutomary  at  this  time  for  the  garden  owner  to  know  the  names  of 
practically  all  of  the  plants  that  were  contained  in  his  garden,  and  to 
superintend   the  laying  out  of  the  beds. 

i  At  the  time  of  the  castle  garden,  because  of  the  many  wars  which 
occurred,  the  gardens  were  more  utilitarian  than  aesthetic.  The  tran- 
sition from  this  period  to  the  Tudor  period  shows  an  increase  of  plants 
used  for  their  beauty  as  plants,  but  the  gardens  were  still  mainly  prac- 
tical. The  garden  arrangement  now  consisted  of  a  large  sunken  gar- 
den, in  which  all  the  plants  were  grouped,  both  flower  and  vegetable, 
but  with  the  introduction  of  the  Elizabethan  Garden,  we  find  the 
tendency  developing  to  separate  the  flowers  from  the  vegetables,  and  a 
m.ore  definite  arrangement  of  the  garden  parts  as  to  use.  For  instance, 
the  vegetables  were  now  planted  in  the  kitchen  garden,  which  was 
carefully  screened  from  the  more  private  parts  of  the  estate.  The 
plants  which  were  used  for  their  decorative  values  appeared  now  in 
the  flower  gardens  and  in  mass  planting,  pleached  alleys,  bowling 
greens,    and    all    the   other    garden    features   which   we    have   come    to 


16 


LANDSCAPE  GARDEN  SERIES 


associate  with  the  Ehzabethan  garden,  became  more  distinctly  set 
apart,  each  in  its  proper  place.  Plants  were  selected  now  for  special 
characteristics  which  they  exhibited,  such  as  time  of  bloom,  color  of 
blossoms,  or  leaf  and  height.  J 

Soil  and  soil  conditions  became  of  much  more  importance  than  in 
former  times  and  the  location  of  the  planting  groups  was  very  carefully 
studied ;  much  attention  was  given  to  the  arrangement  of  the  garden 
area  as  to  color,  and  plants  were  grouped  according  to  this  medium. 
At  this  time,  many  plants  were  brought  over  from  America  and  many 
wild  plants  were  introduced  into  the  gardens,  the  great  care  was  exer- 
cised in  the  placing  of  these  plants,  so  that  the  proper  soil  conditions, 
or  those  as  nearly  like  that  to  which  they  had  been  accustomed,  might 
be  provided  for  them,  thus  insuring  the  best  results  in  the  matter  of 
acclimatization.  This  is  the  only  style  of  gardening  that  has  ever  been 
developed  in  which  the  plant  material  was  used  in  just  this  way. 

The  growth  of  the  English  garden  was  never  one  of  quick  changes, 
but  rather  a  gradual  development.  At  this  time  the  garden  was  strictly 
in   connection   with    the   house,    the   architectural    details   being   repro- 


Fig.  5 — A  well  designed  American  garden,  showing  old  world  influence 


HISTORY  1 7 

duced  in  the  embroideries  in  the  portieres,  the  shape  of  the  garden  fol- 
lowing as  closely  as  possible  that  of  the  house, — in  short,  the  garden 
was  as  close  a  replica  of  the  house  as  was  possible. 

These  gardens  were  usually  built  on  one  of  three  sorts  of  locations, 
on  a  hillside  with  the  house  at  the  top  and  the  terracing  towards  the 
bottom  of  the  hill,  on  a  hillside  with  the  house  at  the  bottom,  and  the 
terracing  going  up  the  hill,  and  on  practically  level  ground.  A  feature 
was  made  of  the  terrace  wall  and  we  find  in  gardens  where  the 
topography  was  practically  level  that  a  terrace  was  provided  and  the 
terrace  wall  made  quite  an  important  feature  in  the  design  of  the 
garden.  Some  time  the  wall  was  ornamented  and  not  covered  with 
vines,  in  other  cases  a  hedge  was  planted  along  the  wall  or  it  was  cov- 
ered with  roses  or  vines.  The  terrace  walls  were  supplied  with  but- 
tresses to  support  the  terrace,  which  were  used  as  a  sort  of  division 
into  areas  for  the  garden  space,  and  this  was  made  use  of  in  the  plant- 
ing scheme.  For  instance,  in  the  space  between  two  buttresses,  which 
made  sort  of  a  niche,  the  planting  would  follow  a  color  scheme  of 
perhaps  blue;  in  the  next  two  red  would  predominate  as  a  color;  the 
next  two  would  be  planted  again  with  blue,  and  so  on ;  also  sometimes 
various  ornaments  such  as  statues,  vases,  etc.,  were  placed  in  the^e 
niches.  These  same  color  schemes  would  be  carried  out  on  to  the  next 
garden  terrace  in  gardens  where  there  were  several  terraces,  and  where 
possibly  the  line  of  color  was  continuous  from  one  terrace  to  the  next. 

This  terrace  in  a  way,  superseded  the  mount,  altho  the  mount  was 
still  used.  With  the  larger  growth  of  the  garden,  it  became  necessary 
to  provide  a  better  means  of  surveying  the  garden  as  a  whole,  which 
the  mount  could  no  longer  provide,  and,  therefore,  the  terrace  was 
utilized  for  this  purpose  and  was  so  placed  as  to  give  a  view  of  the 
whole  garden  and  as  much  of  the  surrounding  scenery  as  the  owner 
wished  to  include. 

Broad  walks  made  of  sand,  turf,  gravel,  etc.,  which  were  called 
"forthrights"  were  laid  out  on  a  plan  corresponding  to  the  plan  of  the 
building  to  connect  the  various  parts  of  the  garden,  thus  dividing  them 
as  the  walls  of  the  house  divide  the  house  into  rooms.  Smaller  walks 
running  parallel  to  the  terrace  were  provided.  The  spaces  which  were 
made  between  these  walks  were  filled  in  with  parterre  beds  and 
flower  gardens,  edged  with  stones,  box  or  other  plants  of  a  like  nature. 


18  LANDSCAPE  GARDEN  SERIES 


Fig.  6  —An  English  estate  with  open  lawn  and   pleasing  composition  of  archi- 
tecture and  planting 

The  patterns  employed  in  these  beds  in  many  cases  were  similar  and 
sometimes  exact  reproductions  of  the  details  of  the  architectural  deco- 
ration of  the  house.      Many  geometrical   features  were  used. 

In  many  instances  these  terrace  walls  were  planted  as  wall  gar- 
dens, or  covered  with  hedges  or  fruit  trees.  There  were  usually  three 
gates  to  the  estate,  the  postern  or  field  gate,  the  main  gate  through 
which  the  owner  and  his  family  and  usual  guests  entered,  and  a 
special  gate  used  only  in  the  case  of  visits  by  royalty  or  guests  of 
higher  rank.  These  gates  were  ornamented  with  vases,  etc.  Many 
of  these  gates  were  of  wrought  iron  and  represent  some  of  the  finest 
types  of  this  art  which  have  ever  been  produced. 

The  mount  was  usually  provided  with  an  arbor  and  some  seats, 
but  in  the  cases  of  the  very  wealthy  garden  owners  elaborate  banquet- 
ting  houses  were  erected  thereon.  Sometimes  when  a  masque  was  to 
be  given,  or  a  pageant  (for  this  age  delighted  in  such  festivals), 
temporary  structures,  which  were  covered  with  vines  and  made  of 
some  flimsy  material,  were  erected  for  the  occasion. 

Many  of  the  gardens  had  mazes  or  labyrinths,  and  quite  often 
these  were  supplied  with  trick  or  surprise  fountains  which  would  sud- 
denly play,  thus  giving  the  lost  one  a  thorough  wetting. 


Fig,  7  —A  temple  on  a  lake 


Topiary  work  was  much  used  in  these  gardens,  having  been  intro- 
duced into  England  at  the  time  of  WiHiam  and  Mary,  from  Holland, 
where  it  was  carried  to  great  extremes.  Many  quaint  designs  were 
worked  out  in  yew  and  box,  such  as  the  twelve  disciples,  reindeer 
hunts,  various  goddesses  and  gods  at  play,   etc. 


20  LANDSCAPE  GARDEN  SERIES 

The  use  of  pools  was  not  as  general  as  that  of  fountains.  Nearly 
every  garden  had  a  "grand  fountain"  in  the  center  of  the  formal  gar- 
den. Many  small  surprise  fountains  were  arranged  in  various  parts 
of  the  gardens,  as  iron  trees  whose  twigs  would  suddenly  rain  streams 
of  water  on  the  persons  walking  beneath,  sundials  which  suddenly 
jetted  up  water  when  one  stopped  to  read  the  time  of  day,  etc. 

The  greatest  characteristics  of  the  people  of  this  time  was  their 
love  for  growing  plants  for  decoration  and   for  the  plants  themselves. 

It  was  the  excesses  for  gardening,  particularly  in  the  use  of  topiary 
work  that  caused  the  springing  up  of  what  came  to  be  called  the 
"naturalistic"  style  of  gardening,  but  before  this  area  of  gardening 
began,  there  came  what  was  much  more  harmful  to  beautiful  gardens 
than  a  war  could  ever  be, — a  period  which  we  have  come  to  call  the 
"period  of  garden  craze".  At  this  time  the  influence  of  the  gardens 
on  the  continent  became  more  marked.  People  began  to  lose  all 
originality  of  style  and  slavishly  copied  these  gardens.  Not  content 
with  copying  the  details  of  these  gardens,  they  introduced  the  whole 
garden  into  their  estates  and  came  to  be  content  with  no  less  than  four 
or  five  different  styles.  This  garden  craze  period  came  about  1 675 
and  lasted  until  the  time  of  Repton. 

The  first  type  of  continental  garden  to  influence  the  English  gar- 
den was  the  Italian  garden  and  with  its  influence  was  brought  the  worst 
features  of  the  rococo  period.  Loggies,  vases,  fountains,  carpet  bed- 
ding, etc.,  appeared  at  this  time  as  did  also  grottoes  and  other  water 
features.  Little  attention  was  paid  to  the  proper  arrangement  of  these 
details,  the  aim  being  simply  to  include  them. 

Because  the  French  gardening  had  received  much  of  its  stimulus 
from  the  Italian  example,  although  worked  out  on  different  lines,  never- 
theless the  French  influence  was  largely  responsible  for  the  influence 
of  the  Italian  garden,  because  the  later  French  and  Italian  gardens 
were  both  addicted  to  rather  florid  ornaments. 

Through  the  French  also  came  the  Dutch  influence  with  its  excessive 
use  of  topiary  and  bedding  plants.  The  Dutch  was  much  like  the 
French  in  general.  The  French  gardening  at  this  time  was  character- 
ized by   large,   open  areas,   artificial   hills   and   valleys;    that  is,   they 


HISTORY  21 

simply  made  the  topography  suit  their  needs,  and  this  soon  became  the 
prevalent  style  in  England. 

Versailles,  the  famous  palace  of  the  French  kings,  near  Paris, 
France,  was  designed  by  Le  Notre  in  the  seventeenth  century,  and 
is  a  distinct  and  characteristic  achievement  of  the  period  of  Louis  XIV 
and  set  the  fashion  for  some  time  until  displaced  by  the  English  style. 

With  the  introduction  of  these  three  types  of  gardens,  many  more 
freakish  styles  were  introduced,  and  an  attempt  was  made  to  introduce 
into  England,  a  kind  of  garden  in  which  all  the  elements  were  to  be 
symbolic,  such  as  the  stepping  stones,  trees,  etc.,  of  the  Japanese  gar- 
den. The  idea  of  the  garden  owners  at  this  time  seems  to  have  been 
for  each  man  to  try  to  outdo  his  neighbor  in  the  creaticn  of  as  many 
styles  of  gardens,  all  on  one  estate,  as  he  could  conceive.  The  be- 
holder was  led  from  one  style  to  another,  French,  Dutch,  Italian, 
Chinese,  Japanese,  etc.,  and  as  a  last  enormity,  they  even  tried  to 
create  gardens  symbolic  of  mythology,  caves,  grottoes,  gardens  depict- 
ing the  terrors  of  the  lower  regions,  etc.  The  visitor  to  these  gardens 
was  supposed  to  view  each  one  with  increasmg  awe  and  amazement 
and  no  doubt  they  did. 

In  about  1  750  a  man  by  the  name  of  Kent  made  his  appearance 
in  gardening  work  jand  from  that  time  dates  the  worst  affliction  that 
has  ever  been  visited  upon  gardening.  His  idea  was  to  create  a  natu- 
ralistic effect,  nothing  was  to  be  artificial — everything  was  to  be  as  in 
its  wild  state.  He  was  a  landscape  artist  and  had  been  engaged  to 
paint  an  estate  and  when  the  owner  saw  how  he  had  "beautified  and 
improved"  it,  he  was  engaged  to  carry  out  these  suggestions  on  the 
ground  and  thus  started  the  period  known  as  the  naturalistic.  H'^. 
was  followed  by  Sir  Uvedale  Price,  an  author,  and  Lancelot  Brown, 
commonly  known  as  "Capability  Brown",  from  his  habit  of  speaking 
of  the  capabilities  of  places  upon  which  he  was  engaged.  None  of 
these  men  were  trained  in  architecture  or  even  in  horticulture,  and  yet 
to  their  unskillful  hands  were  entrusted  beautiful  old  gardens  that  had 
existed  for  centuries  and  bade  fair  to  become  as  softened  and  mellowed 
by  time  as  the  old  Italian  villas.  They  proceeded  to  tear  out  all  that 
they  possibly  could  of  the  old  garden  features,  destroying  all  formal 
portions    and   replacing   them   with    native    flora   as   much   as   possible, 


11 


LANDSCAPE  GARDEN  SERIES 


Fig.  8— Well  designed  architectural  detail  from  an  Old  World  garden 


HISTORY 


23 


even  going  to  the  length  of  planting  dead  trees  and  training  streams  to 
meander.  The  house  opened  directly  out  into  what  was  supposed  to 
resemble  a  virginal  forest — undisturbed  by  nature,  and  there  was  no 
transition  provided  for  the  various  portions  of  the  grounds.  Kent's 
favorite  style  was  the  Chinese  and  he  tried  as  closely  as  possible  to 
imitate  their  ideas  about  gardening,  but  he  was  not  successful  in  this 
as  in  his  informal  idea,  for  the  elements  of  gardening  had  no  symbolism 
to  a  people  such  as  the  English,  whose  very  ideals  of  life  were  of  a 
formal  order. 

Sir  Humphry  Repton 
In   1803  a  man  appeared  who  was  destined  to  begin  the  work  of 
reformation  and  in  a  measure  bring  gardening  in  England  out  of  the 


Sir  HUMPHRY  Repton. 

F.g.  9 

chaos  into  which  it  had  fallen.  This  man  was  Humphry  Repton,  a 
man  of  great  talent  both  in  architectural  drawing  and  in  the  knowledge 
of  horticulture.  PHe  was  educated  both  in  England  and  in  Holland; 
and  it  is  supposed  that  he  learned  a  great  deal  from  the  Dutch  gardeners 
and  their  love  of  plants,  which  later  led  him  to  take  up  this  profession 
with  so  much  success.  His  father  prepared  him  to  be  a  merchant,  which 
he  was  for  several  years  until  misfortune  overtook  him  and  he  retired 
to  his  country  place.  Here  he  lived  for  many  years  taking  a  great 
interest  in  agricultural  work  and  the  beautifying  of  his  home  grounds. 
On  the  death  of  Price  and  Brown  he  became  the  foremost  man  in  the 
profession  in   England,   and  in   fact  was  the  first  man  to  consider  his 


24 


LANDSCAPE  GARDEN  SERIES 


Fig.  10— Many  of  the  small  architectural  features  used  in  American  gardens  are 
replicas  or  adaptions  of  famous  European  examples 

work  along  these  lines  as  a  profession.  He  adopted  the  title  of  "Land- 
scape Gardener"  and  was  conceded  even  by  Price  to  be  at  the  head 
of  his  profession. 

He  believed  in  an  organized  plan,  using  plant  materials  to  help 
create  the  desired  effect;  and  he  believed  in  using  the  materials  of  the 
problem  in  the  best  possible  way  to  enhance  the  plan.  He  was 
the  creator  of  what  we  now  call  the  English  lawn,  a  broad  stretch  of 
turf  with  plants  in  masses  about  the  building  and  the  corners,  but  not  as 
straggly  specimens  dotted  over  the  lawn,  as  had  been  the  case  in  the 
time  of  Kent. 

He  believed  the  fundamental  of  design  in  landscape  gardening  to 
be  as  follows:  The  entrance  drive,  which  might  be  elaborate  or  sim- 
ple, as  depended  on  the  taste  of  the  owner;  the  service  portion  which 
should  be  concealed  from  the  rest  of  the  house,  and  the  pleasure  gar- 
dens which  he  considered  as  an  outdoor  room  to  the  house.  Consid- 
ering an  estate  as  a  composition,  he  divided  the  distance  as  follows: 
immediate  foreground  which  to  him  included  part  of  the  house,  the 
middle   distance  with   its   tree   groups   to   aid   the  view,    and   the  view 

D.  H.  HILL  LIBRARY 

North  Carolina  State  College 


HISTORY  25 

itself  which  included  the  whole  vista  of  the  garden  scheme.  He 
always  considered  the  garden  as  very  closely  related  to  the  house — 
as  a  part  of  the  house  plan.    ' 

Today  we  find  the  owners  of  these  old  estates  in  England  grad- 
ually restoring  them  to  their  former  wonderful  beauty  and  grandeur. 
Much  of  this  restoration  is  due  to  the  influence  of  Repton  and  his 
writings.  In  America  we  have  suffered  from  this  naturalistic  fever, 
but  happily  our  gardens  are  not  so  old  nor  so  elaborate  that  much 
harm  has  been  done. 


CHAPTER  II 
DESIGN 

COMPOSITION  in  any  artistic  work  may  be  defined  as  the 
putting  together  of  lines,  masses  and  colors, — for  the  purpose 
of  securing  harmony.  The  first  requirement  for  good  com- 
position is  the  arrangement  of  the  several  elements  used  in  the  design, 
with  the  idea  of  their  decorative  value  being  secondary.  A  line  may 
be  defined  as  the  boundary  of  shape;  a  mass  as  the  area  within  the 
line.  To  understand  well  the  requirements  of  a  good  design,  we  must 
understand  the  relation  of  lines,  masses,  and  colors.  The  fundamental 
lines  of  a  design  are  the  lines  of  construction. 

In  the  early  American  architecture,  especially  in  the  colonial 
house,  we  have  a  good  illustration  of  the  fundamental  lines  of  con- 
struction of  the  building  employed  as  a  decorative  element  in  the 
composition.  The  use  of  heavy  timbers  in  the  frame  work  of  the 
house,  and  the  emphasis  of  these  lines  on  the  outside  as  a  decorative 
element  in  the  composition,  divides  the  space  of  the  outside  of  the 
building  into  pleasing  areas. 

The  first  requirement  of  a  composition  of  this  kind  is  the  spacing 
of  the  main  lines.  The  ground  work  or  basis  of  the  composition  is 
the  spaces  themselves,  and  their  relation  to  each  other.  In  a  simple 
garden  plan  in  which  the  garden  occupies  a  square,  and  the  problem 
is  the  arrangement  of  the  walks  and  areas  for  the  cultivation  of  flow- 
ers, the  number  and  width  of  the  paths  will  determine  the  shape  and 
size  of  the  flower  beds.  In  this  plan,  which  is  essentially  formal,  we 
have  the  emphasis  on  the  lines.  In  the  informal  plan,  in  which  we 
have  practically  the  same  sized  space  divided  up  into  areas  which  vary 
in  shape  according  to  the  location  of  the  walks,  we  have  the  emphasis 
on  the  spaces  themselves,  and  the  interest  is  here  centered  on  the  gen- 
eral shape,  size,  and  the  location  of  the  spaces  with  reference  to  each 
other. 


HISTORY 


27 


Fig.   1  I  — A  modern  American  garden 

'  In  the  analysis  of  any  garden  plan,  the  same  principles  apply  that 
are  used  in  the  study  of  a  picture.  Here  we  study  a  composition  just 
as  an  arrangement  of  lines  which  are  the  boundaries  of  the  spaces.  In 
any  good  composition  one  type  of  line  predominates.  For  instance, 
in  a  composition  in  which  the  fundamental  lines  are  horizontal,  all 
other  lines  in  the  composition  are  subordinated  to  these.  On  the  other 
hand  where  the  main  lines  are  vertical,  we  have  the  other  hnes  of  the 
composition  subordinated  to  the  vertical.  In  any  picture  or  plan,  the 
arrangement  of  lines  becomes  a  source  of  pleasure  to  the  observer  if 
the  composition  has  been  well  worked  out.  We  have  in  all  composi- 
tion two  types  of  pictures,  the  one  which  is  known  as  the  representa- 
tive, and  the  other  as  the  decorative.  In  the  representative  type,  the 
pleasure  or  interest  to  be  derived  by  the  observer  will  depend  upon  the 
understanding  of  the  meaning  of  the  picture.  In  the  other  type,  the 
decorative,  the  arrangement  becomes  the  source  of  pleasure.  To  be 
satisfactory,   both  should  have  good  composition. 

A  view  of  a  landscape  to  be  satisfactory,  should  have  some  definite 
limitations.      In  all  landscape  work,  the  views  count  as  pictures,  to  be 


28  LANDSCAPE  GARDEN  SERIES 

seen  from  different  points.  There  are  three  types:  first,  the  formal 
vista,  in  which  the  interest  is  usually  in  the  materials  used  in  the  long 
lines  which  border  the  vista,  the  view  at  the  end  becoming  secondary. 
Second,  the  informal  vista,  in  which  the  view  itself  becomes  the  inter- 
esting feature,  and  the  plant  materials  or  architectural  features  used  to 
frame  the  view  are  secondary.  The  third  type,  or  panorama,  consists 
of  a  formal  composition  in  which  the  different  areas  furnish  the  in- 
terest. 

For  the  purpose  of  study  any  composition  may  be  analyzed  as 
possessing  all  or  part  of  six  principles  or  requisites:  opposition,  transi- 
tion, subordination,  repetition,  symmetry,  and  variety,) 

This  analysis  of  composition  may  be  applied  equally  in  both  city 
and  country.  The  only  difference  is  in  the  things  to  be  seen,  although 
the  same  elements  of  composition  are  there.  In  analyzing  a  composi- 
tion we  divide  it,  or  it  divides  itself,  into  three  sections:  foreground, 
or  immediate  view;  middle  distance  (just  beyond  the  foreground,  or 
a  litde  less  importance)  ;  and  the  distance,  or  background.  Any  pic- 
ture, illustration  or  view,  or  in  other  words,  any  composition  has  these 
three  main  elements. 

We  see  in  a,  composition  the  following  elements:  line,  notan  or 
value,  and  color.  We  recognize  objects  first  by  outline.  When  we 
see  our  friends  coming  down  the  street,  while  they  are  yet  too  far 
away  to  recognize  them  by  the  color  of  their  dress,  or  by  any  other 
means,  we  recognize  them  by  their  form  or  ouUine.  Thus  in  composi- 
tion of  any  kind,  we  recognize  the  objects  portrayed  because  we  have 
learned  that  this  or  that  outline — combination  of  lines — is  this  or  that 
object.  We  next  recognize  the  value  or  shading  of  the  composition, 
whether  it  be  light  or  dark.  For  instance,  if  the  sky  be  overcast,  we 
say  it  pictures  rain;  if  the  sun  be  shining  brightly,  and  the  general 
effect  of  the  composition  is  that  of  light,  it  denotes  clear  weather  to 
us.  Then,  too,  the  light  and  shade,  or  value,  serves  to  bring  out  the 
salient  features  in  the  composition, — to  draw  our  attention  to  that 
which  it  is  most  important  that  we  should  see.  The  third  means  of 
recognizing  the  objects  in  a  composition,  is  color. 

Composition  is  the  art  of  forming  a  whole  by  uniting  different 
parts.      Composition   is   divided   into   the    following  parts:    opposition. 


DESIGN 


29 


Fig.  12— A  charming  feature  upon  a  country  estate  in  America 

which  means  the  meeting  of  two  Hnes  to  form  an  angle  and  which 
gives  accent  where  they  "oppose"  each  other;  iransition,  the  break- 
ing up  of  hnes  forming  angles  so  that  the  interest  may  center  on  cer- 
tain accented  points,—  often  done  by  the  use  of  curved  lines;  sub- 
ordination, the  subordinating  of  certain  lines  in  order  to  bring  out  cer- 


30  LANDSCAPE  GARDEN  SERIES 

tain  lines, — may  be  accomplished  by  repetition  or  by  the  use  of  dif- 
ferent types  of  lines ;  repelition,  the  use  of  the  same  type  of  line  over 
and  over  to  aid  in  subordination ;  symmetry,  the  use  of  parallel  lines 
and  axes;  variety,  the  arrangement  of  lines  of  different  types  to  break 
up  the  sameness, — may  be  accomplished  by  use  of  different  lines  or 
using  lines  in  different  w^ays. 

The  danger  in  composition   is   usually   that  of  securing   too   much 
variety  and  detracting  from  the  repose  of  the  picture. 


